Wheeler promises to keep Portland a ‘sanctuary city’

Mayor-elect Ted Wheeler said Tuesday that “Portland is not going to back track on our values,” in regards to serving as a sanctuary city for immigrants and refugees despite campaign threats from president-elect Donald Trump. (KPTV)

PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) -

Neither one of them is in office yet, but Portland mayor-elect Ted Wheeler is taking on president-elect Donald Trump, vowing to keep Portland a sanctuary city for immigrants and refugees despite Trump’s campaign threats to pull federal funding.

It’s a defiant stance against the president-elect, who has said he will pull federal funding from cities that harbor illegal immigrants.

“There’s no place in this community for sexism, racism, religious intolerance or xenophobia,” Wheeler said. “I don’t think the values that we’ve espoused in this community are up for debate and we’re not going to be intimidated by the threat of withdrawal of federal funds to backtrack on what are really fundamental values.”

Since the election, Wheeler says hardly an hour goes by when he doesn’t get a call, email or tweet from minorities worried about their safety under a Trump presidency.

He’s confident, though, that Portland will stay the Portland it has become.

“I’m underscoring the fact that Portland is not going to backtrack on our values,” he said. “We will remain open, we will remain welcoming and we’re going to remain safe.”

Wheeler added that he’s proud to see people exercising their constitutional rights to assemble and protest peacefully, but he says the acts of violence and vandalism from this past week are totally unacceptable.

Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle and former Army Ranger Alejandro Villanueva (78) stands outside the tunnel alone during the national anthem before an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears, Sunday, Sept. 24, 2017. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

The Pittsburgh Steelers will be on the field during the national anthem for next weekend's game against the Baltimore Ravens.

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President Donald Trump is slamming the NFL on Twitter, again. Trump says "ratings for NFL football are way down except before game starts when people tune in to see whether or not our country will be disrespected.".More >

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